Guarantee closure



Dec. 3, 1963 W. STUDER GUARANTEE CLOSURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 25, 1962 United States Patent 3,112,838 GUARANTEE CLOSURE Walter Strider, Ereitenhach, Switzerland, assignor to time AG, Breitenbach, Switzerland Filed .lan. 25, 1962, Saer. No. 168,775 Claims priority, application Switzerland Feb. 2, 1%1 2 @laixns. (Cl. 215-41) My present invention relates to a guarantee closure or seal-breaking closure on a receptacle having a neckshaped mouth, as on a tablet or pill tube or on a medicine bottle.

By the term guarantee closure is meant a rip-open closure or seal which when opened for the first time, is partly destroyed, but which still may be used over again. With the present invention I aim to provide a closure of the character described which after having been opened for the first time, positively shows unmistakable signs of having been opened and then may be used over and over again as mere plug or stopper.

One form of the invention is shown on the drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of the closed necklike mouth,

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the plug shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 shows the plug in a side view,

FIG. 4 depicts a section on the line IVIV of FIG. 3, and

FIG. 5 is a section on the line VV of FIG. 3.

The tablet tube 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 5 on its mouth comprises on the outside a bulbous rim or bead 2 which is hook-like in cross-section and tapers down towards the mouth. In the latter is inserted the plug 3 which as a whole is designated by 3 and consists of a thermoplastic artificial material or of some other somewhat elastic material. Plug 3 comprises essentially three parts, namely a cover 4, an internal sleeve 5 and an external sleeve 6. Internal sleeve 5 is slightly conical and slightly crowned on the outside so that it may readily be inserted into the mouth of tube 1. This internal sleeve could, of course, be formed somewhat differently and, for example, be provided with fins or laminations on the outside. The eX- ternal sleeve 6 serves, as may be seen from FIGS. 1 and 5, for being mounted on the neck of tube 1. To such end, the interior shape of sleeve 6 is adapted to the external shape of bead 2 and, therefore, comprises an endportion 7 destined to engage head 2 from below. Endportion 7 is separated from the remaining portion of sleeve 6 by a circumferential groove 8 which serves as line of attenuation. End-portion 7 comprises a radially or axially projecting tear or rip tab 9 as Well as a helical line it) of attenuation which serves as rip line and eX- tends along half the circumference from tear tab 9 and into groove 8.

0n the inside of cover 4 may be provided a spacer 11 which may be secured to the cover or only inserted into internal sleeve 5, as is known in the case of conventional plugs for tablet tubes and pill bottles. As this spacer may be present in the guarantee closure disclosed by the invention but forms no part thereof, it is shown only in FIG. 1 but not in the other figures.

When closing the filled receptacle, i.e. here for example 3,il2,838 Patented Dec. 3, 1963 "ice the tablet tube 1, for the first time, the plug is so mounted on the mouth that the internal sleeve 5 is inserted into the latter and the external sleeve 6 is slid on the mouth. The end-portion 7 of external sleeve 6 is slightly enlarged when slid over bead 2 and contracts again at once as soon as it has reached its position behind said bead. As bead 2 is formed hook-like, the closure cannot be removed without being damaged. For opening the closure, first the end-portion 7 of sleeve 6 has to be severed therefrom. When pulling rip tab 9 radially outwardly, sleeve endportion 7 is torn open on half the closure circumference along the line of attenuation 1t) and subsequently is sepa rated from the remaining portion of sleeve 6 along the circumferential line of attenuation 10. The closure then may be pulled out like any ordinary stopper, and may be plugged back in again. The helical line of attenuation could be made somewhat steeper or somewhat flatter than shown, i.e. so that it would extend only for a third or a quarter of the circumference, or so that it would extend over the entire circumference. Said line, however, has to be of a certain length, i.e. it must not simply stand as surface line at right angles to the circumferential groove 8, as otherwise it would be destroyed beforehand when closing the receptacle for the first time.

What I claim as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A closure for a container having a neck portion with an opening and a substantially hook-shaped bead formed around the opening, comprising a plug closure for the container of expansible material, including a top closure portion extending over the bottle opening and an external sleeve portion extending downwardly on the outside of the container in sealing engagement therewith, said external sleeve portion including a top sleeve portion extending downwardly around said container from the top to the widest dimension of the said hook-shaped bead, and a rip-tab portion extending below and engaging under the hook-shaped bead to hold the closure on the container, said rip-tab portion comprising an annular formation of material with the the bottom substantially parallel to the top of the container and with a line of severance defined in the material extending from the juncture of said rip-tab portion with said top sleeve portion in a spiral downwardly toward the bottom of said rip-tab portion to define a rip-tab which may be pulled outwardly around the container to separate the rip-tab portion from the top sleeve portion and permit removal of the plug closure from the container.

2. A closure as in claim 1 wherein said rip-tab includes a thumb tab projection defined at the end thereof for grasping by the finger.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,993,612 Trautvetter July 25, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 799,646 France June 16, 1936 802,315 France Sept. 2, 1936 SW R R I N9 1 1959 

1. A CLOSURE FOR A CONTAINER HAVING A NECK PORTION WITH AN OPENING AND A SUBSTANTIALLY HOOK-SHAPED BEAD FORMED AROUND THE OPENING, COMPRISING A PLUG CLOSURE FOR THE CONTAINER OF EXPANSIBLE MATERIAL, INCLUDING A TOP CLOSURE PORTION EXTENDING OVER THE BOTTLE OPENING AND AN EXTERNAL SLEEVE PORTION EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE CONTAINER IN SEALING ENGAGEMENT THEREWITH, SAID EXTERNAL SLEEVE PORTION INCLUDING A TOP SLEEVE PORTION EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY AROUND SAID CONTAINER FROM THE TOP TO THE WIDEST DIMENSION OF THE SAID HOOK-SHAPED BEAD, AND A RIP-TAB PORTION EXTENDING BELOW AND ENGAGING UNDER THE HOOK-SHAPED BEAD TO HOLD THE CLOSURE ON THE CONTAINER, SAID RIP-TAB PORTION COMPRISING AN ANNULAR FORMATION OF MATERIAL WITH THE BOTTOM SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO THE TOP OF THE CONTAINER AND WITH A LINE OF SEVERANCE DEFINED IN THE MATERIAL EXTENDING FROM THE JUNCTURE OF SAID RIP-TAB PORTION WITH SAID TOP SLEEVE PORTION IN A SPIRAL DOWNWARDLY TOWARD THE BOTTOM OF SAID RIP-TAB PORTION TO DEFINE A RIP-TAB WHICH MAY BE PULLED OUTWARDLY AROUND THE CONTAINER TO SEPARATE THE RIP-TAB PORTION FROM THE TOP SLEEVE PORTION AND PERMIT REMOVAL OF THE PLUG CLOSURE FROM THE CONTAINER. 